SURJ Boston

Actions & Updates

May 17, 2020

Mutual Aid During the COVID-19 Crisis

“We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.” -Gwendolyn Brooks

As we settle into the stride of this intense crisis, we invite you to continue to take action, to make movement habitual and stay connected across distance. We’ve got our ship in shape and hopefully continue to make the work we’re doing together easier to follow - and don’t hesitate to reach out.

Pledge Your Stimulus Check

Redistributing our stimulus checks as an act of mutual aid is grounded in an understanding of the inequitable systems we all operate within and of the value of everyone in our community, individually and collectively. No-one is expendable; we need each other, and we must support and protect each other.

💵 If you have yet to pledge your check or a donation, you can pledge here.

Fundraising team members will be reaching out to pledgers individually to check when they receive their checks and help them direct their money to MA Redistribution Fund or to individuals referred to us by our partners such as Keep It 100 for Egleston and Mass Coalition of Domestic Workers.

We also want to highlight these 3 fundraisers which are in need of funds.

  • Chelsea Collaborative is supporting immigrant families in Chelsea which has been hit hard by this pandemic. Donate to support their efforts.
  • MASWAN and SWOP-Boston are raising funds for sex workers who will not receive financial support thru stimulus or unemployment.

SURJB COVID19 Mobilization

📋TELL GOVERNOR BAKER: REOPENING PLAN MUST PROTECT WORKERS AND HARD-HIT COMMUNITIES

Call on Governor Baker to follow baseline measures to protect public health in any reopening plan and ensure that all ongoing discussions of Massachusetts' COVID-19 response and recovery include robust representation of labor, communities of color, seniors, and public health experts from across the state.

☎️ 📋 ✊ Action Hours

Wednesdays in May, 12-1 PM

Register here for action hours—this link is recurring, you can choose one or more sessions, and you can register again if you don’t know your schedule yet.

SURJB members will guide participants through an hour of making calls, sending emails, signing up for volunteering, and signing petitions. We hope this helps combat isolation while building social solidarity!

☎️ Get Resources 2 Neighbors Phonebanks

Tuesdays, 6-8 PM: register here
Saturdays, 12-2 PM: register here

You can sign up for one or more sessions, and you can register again if you don’t know your schedule yet.

In partnership with State Rep Liz Miranda and Boston City Councillor Ricardo Arroyo, we are calling our elderly neighbors in Hyde Park, Mattapan, Dorchester, and Roxbury to see how they are doing and if possible connect them to resources. SURJB will provide a quick training and materials! We’ll let you know which list we will be focusing on for each phonebank.

🚗 Driving

Deliver groceries and supplies in Dorchester, Sundays 1-3 pm (form is a general sign up, you will get direct information after signing up).

Deliver meals to BPS students in Roxbury, Mattapan, Hyde Park, and Dorchester, weekdays lunch and dinner shifts (general form, more info provided after signing up)

Deliver groceries with Solidarity Supply Distro, Mondays and Sundays (general form, more info provided after signing up)

✊ 💵 Critical Supplies

SURJB is helping to collect critical supplies for 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury and Cape Verdean Association of Boston. We're suggesting that folks drop off Tuesday before 8 PM and Friday before 8 PM. Please email back (surjbemergencyresponse@gmail.com) for porch drop off information in JP, Roxbury, West Roxbury, Dorchester, Allston/Brighton, Belmont, and Cambridge.

To get connected to more ways to help out, please fill out our community offers survey (if you haven’t yet).

Neighborhood Mutual Aid Networks

✊ Neighborhoods are starting their own mutual aid systems where people can offer resources and request support. There are opportunities to volunteer, donate, and offer/request support at the links below.

Resources
Huge thanks to both the Asian American Resource Workshop and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice who have compiled Boston and MA specific resources in response to COVID-19. This includes everything from grassroots demands around COVID-19, how to teach an accessible online class, and local resources for supplies and support. City Life Vida Urbana has also published housing rights and resources during COVID-19.

Get Involved

Support Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute's 24th Annual (Virtual) Mother's Day Walk for Peace raised over $340,000 in online and offline donations. Let's get them closer to their $400,000 annual goal! This important organization serves families and communities in Boston and surrounding cities who have been impacted by murder, trauma, grief, and loss. Please watch this short video and donate what you can. Every little bit helps!

Confronting White Supremacists

WATCH: Recording of "Coronavirus, 'ReOpen' Protests, and White Supremacy"

Featuring:

Dropbox folder with the video and caption text or watch on facebook. A big heartfelt thank you to those who donated (we were able to cover honoraria and most of the cost of captioning!) and participated.

READ UP: Here is a set of articles about activist white supremacists and their operations related to the pandemic and "reopening"

Immigration Justice

✊ STOPCVE | ENDTVTP DAY OF ACTION
Join Muslim Justice League as part of the #StopCVE Coalition this Tuesday to put an end to CVE in all of its forms! Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is a framework that institutionalizes the fallacy that Muslims are inherently violent. The Department of Homeland Security has relaunched CVE under a new name: Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP). Join on Tuesday for a remote day of action to call for the end of TVTP.

DRIVING WITHOUT FEAR: A VIRTUAL TOWN HALL

Thursday May 21 @ 6 PM. RSVP Required.
Join the Driving Families Forward Coalition for a virtual town hall to elevate the voices of essential workers impacted by the current public health crisis and to share more on how and why they're #DrivingMAForward. RSVP for the event here.

💵 Student Immigrant Movement DACA Renewal Fund

The Supreme Court has yet to make a decision in regards to DACA. As the days pass DACA recipients need to renew their application and need community support to make that possible. Please donate to the SIM DACA Renewal Fund here.

☎️ ✊ Solidarity with People Attacked in Bristol County ICE Unit B

On May 1st, guards at the Bristol County House of Correction, along with Sheriff Thomas Hodgson himself, attacked people being held in ICE detention. In solidarity with people at the Bristol County House of Corrections, Boston Immigration Justice Accompaniment Network has put forth a list of demands. Please share their demands and follow BIJAN on Facebook to stay updated.

💵 SUPPORT THE MASSACHUSETTS UNDOCUFUND

The MassUndocuFund for Covid-19 Relief was launched by a coalition of immigrant service providers and advocates to provide direct assistance to undocumented victims of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Massachusetts. Donate today to support undocumented children, families, and communites affected by the pandemic to recover and rebuild.

Public Education

📋 #OurCityOurSchools Petition

In regards to the Our City Our Schools Campaign (fighting against the state partnership with BPS) if you haven’t done so yet, please sign and share the petition here: https://btu.org/ourcityourschools/. They are trying to get to 2,500 signatures!

📋 Student Immigrant Movement Petition

SIM (Student Immigration Movement) is asking for folks to help fight to ensure that BPS has a transparent policy around sharing student information with ICE. You can get more information about SIM’s demands, sign, and share the SIM petition demanding a clear and fair policy here: bit.ly/NoICEinBPS. They are just over 2,000 signatures. Spread the word!

Maine Lobster Feed

SUPPORT GRASSROOTS Boston ORGANIZING THROUGH THE MAINE LOBSTER FEED!

SURJ Boston is raising money for the Maine Lobster Feed—going forward this year in a virtual format! Last year, we raised $2,000 to support incredible grassroots organizing in our communities. This year, we’re showing up by raising $2,000 again for eight organizations, many of whom SURJ works closely with: Alternatives for Community & Environment (ACE), Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW), Families for Justice as Healing, Haymarket People’s Fund, Muslim Justice League, New England United for Justice (NEU4J), Resist, Inc., and Student Immigrant Movement (SIM). Can you help SURJ Boston raise $2000?

Housing Justice

📋 Sign and Share the Housing Guarantee

It's going to take thousands of people to join the housing justice movement calling to:

  1. Ban evictions and foreclosures during the COVID-19 crisis and recovery period
  2. Cancel rent and mortgage payments for all those unable to pay during the crisis
  3. Guarantee that in the aftermath of the crisis renters and homeowners will not face eviction, foreclosure, or pressure to repay impossible levels of housing debt from the crisis
  4. Provide comprehensive support to people who are unhoused or living in overcrowded conditions, including safe isolation for the sick and relocation of people in crowded shelters

Sign and share the Housing Guarantee at housingguarantee.org!

✊ Teach-In and Building Power

Sunday, 5/24, 12-2pm

Join the Housing Justice Action Partnership for political education and virtual community building to better understand the moment we are in and how we can keep building momentum for rent control after the state of emergency has been lifted. If interested, please RSVP. More details to come!

Eviction Help

Are you, or someone you know, worried about getting evicted? Call City Life/ Vida Urbana's hotline.

Prison Abolition

✊ Week 9: Policing & Politicking

This week we are returning to daily calls to action, as of this writing materials are not updated but continue to reference back to this link!

CALL: END REPRESSION OF INCARCERATED ORGANIZERS!

Last week, #DeeperThanWater comrades Wayland “X” Coleman and Jeremy were thrown in solitary confinement at NCCI Gardner for organizing a tray refusal as part of incarcerated people demanding proper, nutritious food, fresh air, and decarceration. They organized mutual aid to feed everyone in their unit as part of this simple protest, and have since been cut off from contact with DTW organizers and their commissary accounts. PLEASE CALL and demand they be returned to general population, in addition to providing all incarcerated people healthier, more substantial, and more varied food options.

✊ SAVE THE DATE: Car Caravan Against Incarceration

Details TBD, Wednesday, 5/27 pm from 4-6pm

Support Julio Coming Home!

#DeeperThanWater member and loved penpal of one of our organizers is coming home early on parole, amid the coronavirus pandemic. Help us raise $5000 to cover his housing and living expenses after 28 years in a cage.

📋 Sign this petition to demand a retrial for Raymond Gaines

He was wrongfully convicted of 1st degree murder and armed robbery in 1975. He has been wrongfully imprisoned for 44 years, stolen from his family, loved ones, and community.

✊ Black & Pink Volunteer Drop In

Black and Pink’s mission is to abolish the criminal punishment system and to liberate LGBTQIA2S+ people/people living with HIV who are affected by that system, through advocacy, support, and organizing.

These drop ins welcome any kind of abolitionist energy, whether reading and entering mail into the database, writing letters, playing cards, or just chatting. Formerly incarcerated and court involved people especially encouraged to attend. Cis, straight and/or free world allies are welcome!

Childcare

✊ Volunteer with the Greater Boston Childcare Collective

GBCC supports local racial justice and intersectional organizing by providing free childcare during meetings, events, and actions so that caregivers and children can fully participate. We provide care for groups being led by folks most impacted by oppression and who are on the front lines of their movements. Find out more information about GBCC here and on Facebook.

The GBCC Planning Team is looking for people who want to volunteer as a carer and for those interested in volunteering as a member of the GBCC Planning Team. The Planning Team does all the behind-the-scenes work of partner relationship building, care coordinating, and future planning. As we enter our fourth year of existence, we want to grow our network, Planning Team, and sustainability. Join us if you are invested in racial justice and enjoy caring for kids!

Fill out our Volunteer Interest Form if you'd like to become a volunteer carer.

Contact Morgan at morganch93@gmail.com if you'd like to learn more about joining the GBCC Planning Team or with any questions.

Stand with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe!

📋 SIGN THE PETITION: PROTECT MASHPEE WAMPANOAG RESERVATION LANDS

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the very tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims in the 1600s, is at risk of losing what is left of their homelands due to a determination made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. Sign the petition today: tell Congress to protect Mashpee Wampanoag reservation land!

Grab Yourself by the Bootstrap

Get Educated

KNAPSACK ANTI-RACISM GROUP

Knapsack is a multiracial group hosted by Community Change Inc that is committed to challenging the system of racism in the United States and the world. We engage in dialogue, build community, and support the efforts of racial justice leaders and organizations. We are dedicated to the struggle for shared liberation.

White People Challenging Racism

Moving From Talk to Action: Find classes and sign up on the WPCR website

Community Change, Inc.

SURJ Boston is a project of Community Change Inc (CCI), a Boston-based organization shining a spotlight on the roots of racism in white culture with the intention of dealing with racism at its source.

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